As a result of ever tightening Chinese censorship over the Internet, two more internet sites have been shut down in Inner Mongolia for “chatting in the Mongolian language”, “inciting Inner Mongolian independence”, and “allowing the entry of overseas separatists”.

“Mongolian Net Communications” (“Meng Gu Zu Wang Tong” in Chinese), a voice-and-text internet chat room hosted by uc51.com.cn of Sina Net ( www.sina.com ) that is a popular server hosting more than 600 chat rooms, was originally set up by Mongolian intellectuals across China to provide a platform for Mongols to communicate in the Mongolian language. Thousands of Mongols from Inner Mongolia and elsewhere  gathered here to discuss topics including environmental problems, cultural assimilation, and economic exploitation of Inner Mongolia. In order not to be shut down by the authorities, “Mongolian Net Communication” had kept a certain distance from the so-called “sensitive topics” including human rights and political issues.

However, on April 19, 2006, two web administrators from the UC51.com.cn came into the chat room to officially warn the Mongols to “stop using the Mongolian language when chatting since all Inner Mongolians are Chinese citizens and therefore their mother tongue should be Chinese.” The two also accused the Mongolian chatters of “inciting Inner Mongolian independence” and threatened to shut down the chat room if they continued using the Mongolian language. The Mongolian chatters continued to use their native tongue and on April 23, 2006, the “Mongolian Net Communications” was shut down. No official explanation was given.

On April 21, 2006, the Chinese authorities shut down another internet site called “Mongol Zaluus BBS” (“Mongol Youth BBS” in English --- www.mnglzaluus.com/bbs), a popular internet discussion forum created and run by Inner Mongolians who were forced to leave another internet discussion forum called “Eh Oron”(“Homeland” in English) that was shut down last September by the Chinese authorities for “posting separatist contents”. According to the notice posted on the forum after its shut down, the “Mongol Zaluus BBS” was closed “because its storage usage (77 Mega Bites) exceeded the limit (30 Mega Bites).” To investigate the details of the shut down further, the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center reached one of the forum administrators who asked not to be identified. The administrator revealed to the Center that “what the authorities are really concerned about is not the storage issue, but the messages posted on the forum by ‘some overseas separatists’ who through the forum had collected information regarding sensitive issues including the government’s recent decision to eliminate eastern Inner Mongolia’s Mongolian schools, and discussions about the worship of Chinggis Khan and celebrating the 800^th Anniversary of the Birth of the Mongol Nation.”

Despite the guarantees set forth in the Chinese Constitution for minority peoples’ rights to autonomy and self-determination, the recent shutdown of these two websites indicates that the Chinese regime has little respect for their own Constitution and continues on the path to eliminate the minority peoples’ rights to even converse in their own language.   

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